This invention relates to a unitary wire clip for attaching a fishing lure and the like to a fishing line by manually compressing elongated torsion bars.
A swivel is illustrated for use with fishing equipment in U.S. Pat. No. 3,241,201 wherein a ball carries a shank provided with a loop adjacent one end and positioning a pair of opposed arcuate depressible loops against the ball and with overlapping converging members carrying a pair of opposed ends. U.S. Pat. No. 1,882,678 discloses an attaching fixture having a pair of opposed attaching end members carried by one end of each of a pair of torsion bars which are joined by a coiled member.
The following U.S. Patents are illustrative of the state-of-the-art: U.S. Pat. Nos. 629,224, 868,004, 872,934, 1,182,471, 1,250,500, 313,372, 2,267,558, 2,385,274, 2,546,303, 2,871,540, 3,105,278, 4,759,103 and 4,777,950.
Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide a clip having single, line attaching loop member with a pair of elongated substantially straight torsion bars carried symmetrically on opposite free ends of the loop all extending in the same flat plane. Also, in this flat plane a pair of inwardly extending converging bars are provided for carrying inwardly diverging bars with opposed open loops which are resiliently urged together by the action of the torsion bars with the overlapping bar members carried at a free end of the inwardly diverging members carried by the torsion bars.
Another important object of the invention is to provide a single line loop which would not only permit attachment of the line but would also allow for the use of a swivel. The single bend provides a minimum of cross sectional area so as not to impede the passage of the lure and the attachment through the water and to minimize the disturbance of the water. More importantly, perhaps, is the stable attachment provided by the line loop which would not tend to loosen a knot attached as a coil or double loop would due to repeated flexing which may cause the line to loosen.